Logic of Violence: A Review

One of the key elements of personal security is to understand the threat and the adversary’s method of operation, mindset and tactics. Rory Miller, the author of the excellent books Meditations on Violence and Facing Violence has released an outstanding video called Logic of Violence that delves into the mindset of the criminal, how they reason, select victims and plan attacks. Miller, a career corrections officer has great insight into how criminals think, how violence unfolds and explains how to use this information to keep yourself safe.

The three-hour video has an interesting format: You are present for a seminar that Miller gives to four self-defense instructors. Miller stands in front of a white board for most of the video presenting his material and engaging in a discussion with the four attendees. There are also several brief breakouts where Miller and the four instructors go to a bar and a parking lot to walk through some of the concepts they have discussed. Miller also discusses several techniques such as using reflective surfaces to maintain situational awareness and breaking free from a grab from behind but the video is overwhelmingly focused on concepts and understanding how criminals think, select their victims and plan their attacks.

Viewers that have read Miller’s books will see a discussion of familiar themes such as social vs. predatory violence, resource vs. process predators and so forth. Miller spends a lot of time getting the four attendees to actively engage in exercises that force them to think like a criminal. I strongly suggest viewing the video with a notebook and pen on hand to get the greatest value from the material by participating in the exercises and jotting down key points.

While the video is clearly geared towards instructors its really great material for anyone concerned about personal security. My only criticism at all – and its very minor – is that some of the questions can be difficult to hear. A couple of times I had to stop and review the video to hear what the question was. This could easily be addressed in future videos if Miller restated the question for the “video audience” before answering. There is also some bonus material which includes a very interesting brief presentation by one of the seminar attendees Teja Van Wicklen of Devi Protective Offense that addresses some of the particular security concerns of women and some of their vulnerability to psychological domination by predators.

Logic of Violence is highly recommended to those who seek to better understand how criminals think and operate. Its available on Amazon.com and through YMAA (www.ymaa.com ).